


Drive (To go forward)

by skerryB



Series: The Chronicles of Evie, Astrid and Manta Rae Witt [9]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Bloodhound is only mentioned briefly, Its a car fic, Other, as are the rest of the witt kids, but also a fun papa, daughter day, with my normal smidge of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25193671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skerryB/pseuds/skerryB
Summary: Elliott Witt is one of the smartest people in the world.Elliott Witt's dad brain, however, is dumb and worries too much.And now Evie is learning to drive, which dad brain isso excitedfor
Relationships: Bloodhound/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Series: The Chronicles of Evie, Astrid and Manta Rae Witt [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1794418
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Drive (To go forward)

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look, the latest instalment of this AU. I would recommend reading "Laying Roots' first, just because this follows up on things I mention in that fic.

The first time Elliott was behind the wheel, it was in his oldest brother's banged up beater car. He had been fifteen, it was dark,and his mother had no idea. He had left two even black skid marks in the parking lot near their house.

Elijah and he shared a look every time they saw them, their own little secret that the other brothers and their mother were not privy to.

It was his mom that taught him how to drive properly. Elliott was the youngest of four, so she had had more than enough experience teaching her hot shot sons how to follow the basics of road safety. She was calm with Elliott, never raised her voice, didn't even grab onto the handle above the door. 

The same handle that Elliott, now much older, was holding in a white knuckle grip, as his eldest daughter took the family SUV around a corner just slightly too fast. 

He'd promised her ice cream if she managed to not hit anything, from the parlor they went to when she was a kid. He felt the entire car lurch as she hit a speed bump, or maybe a curb. 

Elliott definitely screamed. 

\---

The next lesson was better though. Because they had hired a professional driving instructor, so when it came to her supervised hours with Elliott, she had a greater sense of what she was doing. He still grabbed the handle though, mostly to stop himself from gripping onto the handbrake or throwing his arm in front of her every time she hit a speedbump.

"You know it's going to be fine, right? I know what I'm doing" Evie says, in spooning ice cream into her mouth. Banana, her favourite. 

They had stopped for Ice cream, from the parlor they liked. The owner had recognised them as soon as they walked in, and had given them an extra scoop for free. They were sitting outside, under one of the store's bright umbrellas, as they took a break. A few feet away, Elliott could see the family car, in an almost perfect parallel park.

"I know that, baby girl" Elliott says, "But my dad brain still panics"

"Your dad brain is stupid" She huffs.

Elliott hums in reply, licking at his own ice-cream cone. "So how's school?"

"Good, My biology teacher is offering me extra credit to tutor a couple of my classmates" 

"You hate biology though" 

Evie shrugs in reply. "Extra credit is extra credit."

"You don't need extra credit though, you're the smartest kid I know." 

"Pops, please, how many other kids do you know?"

Elliott pauses, doing the maths in his head.

"Well, there's you. so one. Then Astrid and Rae, that's three. Luka, that's four. and Artur, that's five." As he speaks, he holds up a finger for each one, ending on an open palm, which he holds in front of his daughter's face.

"You _cannot _count Artur in that, he's a bird" She argues. She reaches out and tucks his pinkie finger down to his palm.__

__Elliott pauses, thinks for a second more, and lifts it up again with a smug grin._ _

__"Okay then, what about Julia?"_ _

__Evie freezes, before looking down at her ice cream._ _

__"We… Broke up" She says. "That's why she hasn't been around in a few weeks"_ _

__"Oh, baby girl, I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"_ _

__At this, Evie lets out a long sigh, and pushes her remaining scoop of banana ice cream around its paper cup._ _

__"She said that we were better off friends.. Which I agree with, but still-" She looks up at her father, who, she notices, has drips of banana ice cream dripping onto the back of his hand from where it's melting off it's cone. "-It still sucks, you know?"_ _

__Elliott nods, and places a hand, the non sticky one, on her shoulder._ _

__"I know what you mean kiddo" He says, and the look he gives Evie tells her he really does mean it. "Sometimes, relationships suck, that's a part of life, and then eventually find the right person."_ _

__"I should do what you did," Evie says with a joking tone. "Join a bloodsport and fall in love with the first person that kills me"_ _

__"Absolutely not. Not in a million years, you think my dumb dad brain could take it?"_ _

__At this Evie laughs, throws her head back in her chair, so he knows Elliott has achieved his goal._ _

__"Please, we both know Rae's the one most likely to join the games"_ _

__

__Elliott laughs, finally wiping the melted ice cream off his hand with a napkin. "It would be so great if you didn't give me the mental image of my eight year old dying live on intergalactic television, thanks."_ _

__

__He stands, takes Evie's now empty cup and his napkins and throws them in the trash, before walking up to the counter. "I'm driving, if you keep the pints in your lap, I'll let you pick the music"_ _

__

__It's an offer she pretends to consider. Hand on chin to mimic her father's own thinking expression. "Road trip playlist, it's been a while since I've heard your Buffet voice, and I've had Margaritaville stuck in my head for _weeks _" She says, following her father back inside to the counter.___ _

____ _ _

____"You're just sucking up so you can get a take home pint of banana" Elliott responds, looking over his shoulder at her before turning back to the older man behind the counter._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Evie examines the rest of the store, looking at the stacks of various toppings, as Elliott rattles off the flavours he wants to take home. A chocolate pint for Mabbie, mint choc chip for Rae, a chocolate chip cookie dough for Astrid. "And-" he says, glancing towards Evie "Two of the banana"_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____As Evie takes the paper bag with the five tubs, and carries it out to the car, she grins up at her father. "You didn't have to get two, I could have had some of yours"_ _ _ _

____Elliott gasps in response, clutches his hand to his chest as he unlocks the doors._ _ _ _

____"Kiddo" He says with a laugh. "they're both for me"_ _ _ _

____Evie turns to look at her father as he drives, goes to say something in response, a tease about how he should just pass them all and call it a night, when she stops._ _ _ _

____There's a smile on his face, the one that is always present when he's talking to her, or Astrid, or Rae. But behind that, in the corner of his eye, she catches something else._ _ _ _

____It's almost sadness, the way that it dulls the light in his normal brightness. That's when she recognises it. She glances at the car's digital radio display to confirm the date, to confirm her suspicions. She looks back at him, and the same glimmer is there._ _ _ _

____It's grief._ _ _ _

____Today was the anniversary of Grandma Evelyn's death._ _ _ _

____As soon as she recognises it, it's gone, replaced by the brightness that her father gets from the opening lines of 'Hooked on a Feeling'  
\---_ _ _ _

____Evie was the only one of Elliott's three children to have met his mother, and she was too young to remember it._ _ _ _

____She would be so proud of them though, all three of them._ _ _ _

____Especially Evie, who reminds Elliott so much of his mother that he has to remind himself that the two of them aren't biologically related._ _ _ _

____Evie is as brilliant as she was, and had the same systematic drive to find answers that Evelyn had._ _ _ _

____It made Elliott so incredibly proud. Prouder than he could ever put into words._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____He missed her so much, but, as he glanced to the passenger side of the car, he realised that she wasn't really gone._ _ _ _

____He glances towards Evie, who, he realises, is watching him._ _ _ _

____"All good, baby girl?"_ _ _ _

____Evie nods and places her hand on his elbow._ _ _ _

____"Yeah pops, I'm good."_ _ _ _

____And as he's driving, watching the road and sparing the occasional glance towards his daughter, he's hit with the feeling that he is too._ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can find me on my tumblr @lightupthisuniverse, or on my twitter @skezzab
> 
> also yes I have a playlist for this fic you can find it here
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Rb2Zm7sA6bd1S6rs4yShI?si=DBZUa2mxSyeDcoGV0HMhHA


End file.
